


Couples Night

by LadyCallie



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Comedy, Dating, Established Relationship, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Happy, Season/Series 05, unfinished story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-06-01
Updated: 2010-03-31
Packaged: 2017-10-08 13:26:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/76101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyCallie/pseuds/LadyCallie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Joyce finds out something new about Willow.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Revelations

Joyce glanced up from her newest issue of O. Reaching out she clicked the TV remote to mute. Listening with the trained ear of a mother with a very sneaky child, she caught the tale end of the Slaying Party making plans for the weekend. It sounded like it was only the original three members outside. Willow’s bright voice blended with Xander’s slightly louder tone, and Joyce couldn’t help smiling. Buffy had never had any close friends before the move to Sunnydale, and the few she had had weren’t what Joyce would call friends. Even though Sunnydale had a higher mortally rate then their old suburb, Joyce had decided long ago that it was worth the risk. Being a single mother of two had often forced her out of opportunities that most woman her age had, but she socialized enough for her tastes at the gallery and even went out on an occasional dinner date.

Keys jangled and one slid into the lock as a foot kicked the door open. Joyce winced as it hit the doorstop with a thud. Buffy, toting her favorite axe on her back, was followed by Xander and Willow, who were both loaded with weapons.

"Hi Mom!" Buffy swept by her mothers spot in the recliner and dropped a quick kiss on her head.

"Hi Hunny. How was slaying?"

"Great! Two vamps bit the dust and Xander scored big time with the Guck demon."

"Guck demon?" Joyce set her magazine down. "Sounds messy."

"Oh it was," Willow chimed in, her flame coloured locks falling in her face as she placed her compact crossbow back in Buffy’s weapon chest. "But it wasn’t a Guck demon. It’s pronounced G-u-y-u-u-k-k."

Xander strutted in front of Joyce, displaying the large orange goo stain the covered his entire shirt front and one side of his pants. "You say "Guyuuk" and I say "Guck", you say "potato" and I say "patato". All that matters is that we kill the same one." He tossed Buffy his sword. The blade made a clear _shhh_ sound as it cut through the air before Buffy caught it and settled it in its spot in her ‘toy box’.

The threesome moved back toward the door.

 

"So you and Reily are for sure going?" Willow questioned, brushing out her skirt.

"Totally. I promised him a date this weekend. All I have to do is tell him when and where." She turned to the only male member of the group. "Is the Xand-man driving?"

Xander’s chest poof’d up in male pride at the mention of his vehicle. "Yessss ma’am. Anya and I’ll be here about seven thirty." He held up a hand. "Minus the lovely orange goo that graces me now."

Both girls laughed as Xander attempted to pull his shirt away from his body and only succeeded in making a sticky slap as the goo made the fabric cling to his skin. Sighing in defeat he offered Willow his arm and proceeded to escort his best friend to the car.

Willow turned and called back to the house as Xander kept walking, "Bye Buffy! See you tomorrow night!"

The blond standing in the doorway giggled as Willow and Xander paraded down the sidewalk. "Bye guys!" Still chuckling she turned and shut the door, making sure to lock it again. Thinking a Post Slayage snack sounded good Buffy headed into the kitchen.

 

Her mother’s voice trailed after her. "Buffy?"

"In the kitchen Mom."

As the Chosen One raided the refrigerator, her mom peeked her head into the kitchen. "So what’s going on tomorrow night?" Joyce leaned on the doorframe.

"Oh!" Buffy quickly swallowed the chunk of cheese she’d been munching. "The Bronze is having something called ‘Couples Night’." She grabbed the orange juice bottle and placed it on the island, then set a cup of yogurt beside it. "Supposedly if you come as a couple one of you gets in free." She opened the freezer door and glanced in. "Hey, do we still have any of those frozen strawberries left?"

"Second shelf, behind the peas." Joyce walked around the island and bent down to find her daughter the blender. Buffy had discovered a love for smoothies as a bedtime snack and Joyce was never one to deny her kids fruit, in any form. Setting the machine on the countertop she caught Buffy giving the bag of frozen green peas a face that definitely said "Ick".

"It’s a good thing you’re going out tomorrow." Buffy arched an eyebrow at her mom. "Those," Joyce pointed at the peas still in Buffy’s hand, "are on the menu."

The slayer shuddered. "Gah, yes going out. Very good thing." She tossed the found bag of strawberries beside her other ingredients.

As Buffy hunted for the right sized measuring cup, Joyce set up the blender, making sure that the bowl was attached tightly to the base. " ‘Couples Night’?"

"Yuppers. You think I could add extra sugar or would that not be a good idea?" Buffy bumped her mom out of the way and proceeded to pour the components into the blender.

Joyce handed Buffy a knife from the block, and she started slicing a banana from the bowl on the counter into chunks.

"So you’re going with Reily, and Xander’s taking Anya…" Joyce ticked off couples on one hand, "Who’s Willow going with?" As far as she knew the redhead had been single since Oz had left mid-term.

Buffy glanced at her mom, "Duh, Mom. Who do you think she’s going with?" She tossed the dirty knife in the sink and reached for the lid.

Joyce blinked, "I don’t know. Willow’s dating again?"

"Uhh, yeah Mom."

"Who?"

Buffy pressed the blend button and shouted over the loud noise. "She’s going with Tara, Mom."

Joyce leaned in, "What?"

Buffy tried a little louder, "She’s going with Tara, Mom."

"What?" Joyce’s voice raised. "I can’t hear you!"

Sighing Buffy flipped off the blender. "She going with Tara, Mom." The slayer popped the lid off and nodded, satisfied at the texture of her drink. She turned to find a cup. "Who else would she take?"

"But you said it’s couples night…?"

"Yeah? So?" Buffy snatched a cup from the cupboard and turned back to her mom. Joyce’s mouth was slightly open, and her forehead was wrinkled as she tried to make sense of everything.

"Willow’s taking Tara?"

Buffy nodded.

"Tara, the other witch, Tara? Tall, blond, quiet Tara? The one Dawn’s always chattering about?"

"Ummmhmm." Buffy poured her pink smoothie into her favorite Winnie the Pooh glass.

"So they’re just going as friends?"

"If you call gay type lovers ‘just friends’, I guess so."

"Willow’s gay?" Joyce sputtered.

Buffy’s blue eyes met her mother’s over the top of her glass as she paused mid gulp. "Since last spring."

Joyce’s voice rose, "What?"

"She came out a while after the whole Faith thing. Remember? I know I told you." Buffy headed back to the living room.

Her mother followed her, totally at a loss, desperately attempting to grasp at a concept that continued to elude her. "She’s a lesbian? This whole time? What about Oz?"

Buffy settled herself on the sofa, pulling a blanket over her legs, and silently marveling at her mother's ability to remain clueless in the face of such a major development. "She met Tara in one of her classes and started hanging out a lot. I guess things just happened after that. I didn’t know until she told me. Hand me the remote?"

Joyce sank down into her chair, and blankly handed Buffy the controller. "Why didn’t she tell me?"

Buffy stopped channel surfing and put the TV on mute. "Mom she kinda came out at a not so great time. Remember when I said that Oz came back for a couple of days?" Joyce nodded. "She had to choose between them. She was so uncertain and confused. I'm not even sure she realized exactly what she felt for Tara until Oz wanted her back. That's when she told me. And I somehow managed to give good advice even with my foot in my mouth and told her to follow her heart. And her heart led her straight to Tara."

Joyce inhaled; she knew how deeply hurt Willow had been when Oz left her. If she chose Tara over Oz then… "She really loves her doesn’t she?"

Buffy had gone back to the TV. "Willow?" Her mom nodded. "Yeah, she really does." Buffy looked at her mom seriously, "And that’s what matters right?"

Joyce leaned back in her chair, "Yeah, that’s what matters." She picked up her magazine and Buffy returned to the screen.

 

"Does Dawn know?"

"Yes, Mom."

"Oh." She flipped a page. "Does Mr. Giles know?"

"Yes."

"Oh." Plaintively, "Am I the last to know?"

Buffy laughed, "Yes, Mom."

"I am so out of the loop!"


	2. Expecations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For Willow, preparing for a night out never took longer. For Anya… well, she's never moved faster.

Willow stamped her foot, rattling the handle of Tara’s dorm room, which remained stubbornly locked. “Tara! I wanna see!”

  
“Not yet!” came the voice through the wood. Willow resumed pacing and fumed. Her girlfriend was half-naked and sexy in there, she was sure of it. She resented being kicked out into the hall just because, according to Tara, “once my clothes come off, you’ll never let me get the new ones ON, dearheart.” She would! Eventually. Probably.

  
It just wasn’t fair! Tara had a new outfit, and Willow wanted to see it! Instead she had been unceremoniously shoved into the hall, with only a whispered promise of kisses later to tide her over. For the millionth time she cursed the protective barrier they had conjured to seal Tara’s room. Sure, it stopped demons and dark magic and general nastiness, but it also stopped Willow’s attempts to “peek”. Up and down the hall, doors opened and closed as curious students wondered what she was yelling about. Across the hall and two doors to the right, two especially curious male heads poked out and stayed out.

“Dude, it’s the lesbians.”

“Hey, let’s watch, maybe they’ll like, make out and stuff!”

Willow heard the comments and turned to glare at her girlfriend’s floormates. “Yes, I’m sure you’ll all get endless hours of entertainment watching me be LOCKED OUT! Go stare at some other poor frustrated person. All I ask is to be able to watch my girlfriend change, and instead I end up standing in the hallway, feeling like an idiot, trying to figure out how to cheat and watch anyway, and now I have two horny MALES watching me NOT watching her…”

“Did you try looking under the door?” interrupted the dark-haired one. “That’s usually how we OW!” He turned to glare at his roommate. “What’d you hit me for?”

Willow was torn between taking out her frustration on the pair, or implementing their suggestion. Curiosity won out (vengeance could wait; they lived just down the hall) and she knelt by the door, mashing her face against the floor and wiggling herself into position until she could see into the room. She was rewarded by the sight of… an empty room. The mystery of Tara’s whereabouts was quickly solved, however, as the door swung open to reveal her girlfriend at last.

Willow sheepishly glanced up from her crouch, looking guilty as only Willow could look, and Tara’s eyebrow arched skyward.

“I don’t kiss peeping Toms,” was all she said as the door closed once more, leaving Willow outside, opening and closing her mouth in aggravation.

Tara muffled her laughter in her hands, leaning against the door as her girlfriend wailed in frustration. She had been feeling increasingly mischievous all afternoon. Making Willow leave while she changed was a practical consideration as much as anything else, but she certainly hadn’t expected to find her spying on her. Ok, so she knew her lover better than that; she’d counted on her TRYING, but she’d never have guessed that her Willow would stoop to peeking under the door!

Tara shook her head in amusement. Poor Will. Sometimes her need to know everything got her into very awkward positions. Still, while her crouch outside the door hadn’t looked very comfortable, Tara had to admit to herself that her ass had looked lovely from that angle, hiked into the air for all to see and appreciate. She listened amusedly to Willow’s pleas for admittance as she let her mind drift back over the events that had lead her to torture her girlfriend in the first place.

* * *

  
Willow looked up from her laptop as Tara walked through the door, a department store bag over her shoulder. She scrambled to her feet, eager to greet her lover. And to find out what she had in the bag. In her experience, Tara with a shopping bag now usually meant Tara looking VERY sexy later. “What’d you get, baby?”

Tara’s slow grin spread, gently illuminating her face. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

“Of course I’d like to know! I am Willow, the all-curious,” the redhead responded brightly.

Tara shook her head, scooping up Miss Kitty so she could “talk” to Willow. “Beware curiosity, it will lead you down the path of Doom to End all Dooms,” “Miss Kitty” intoned in a deep booming voice, before jumping from her mommy’s arms to go in search of any insects luckless enough to have entered her territory.

Willow resorted to pleading, putting on her best sad-face for Tara’s benefit. “You’re not going to just come in here with a new outfit and then not give me a fashion show, are you? I would feel so neglected if you didn’t model for me…”

She looked up hopefully, but Tara was unmoved. “Sorry, honey, you’re just going to have to wait ‘til tonight.”

Willow pouted thoughtfully, planning her next move. Without warning, she lunged for the bag, trying to wrestle it away from her giggling girlfriend. Tara held it up out of reach as Willow jumped for it, falling into Tara and knocking them both to the ground. They squirmed around on the floor, shrieking with laughter, each looking for an opening in the other’s defenses. Tara managed to shove the bag under the bed, enabling her to concentrate solely on getting to Will’s tickle-spots. She rolled them away from her prize, triumphantly ending up on top, pinning Willow to the ground. Will wriggled underneath her, knowing she was at her lover’s mercy and looking for a way out.

Tara faked an attack, then surprised her beloved by kissing her passionately. Willow wasn’t objecting, although she hadn’t been expecting quite this kind of assault. She returned the kiss with interest, moaning as Tara pulled her tongue into her mouth and sucked on it gently. When Tara had worked Willow into a satisfying frenzy, she broke the kiss, smiling down at her panting, wide-eyed girlfriend.

“Not ‘til tonight,” was all she said, and with that, she pushed herself off the floor, leaving Willow unsatisfied in more than one respect.

Tara pulled the bag out from under the bed and set it by the closet, while Willow, still on the floor, put on her best Rosenberg-pout. Tara stood over her, smiling apologetically. “I mean it, Will. I really want this to be a surprise. I’m trusting you not to look until I change tonight.”

The word ‘trust’ was a low blow, Willow thought. Now she couldn’t peek without feeling like she was betraying Tara. And her girlfriend knew it, too. Willow warred inwardly, torn between her raging desire to know the contents of the bag, and the guilt she knew she’d feel if she looked. The hypothetical guilt was about to win the battle when an unexpected third party entered the fray. “Hey, how come Miss Kitty gets to peek?”

Tara looked up at her girlfriend’s indignant squawk, just in time to see a feline tail disappear into the bag, followed by gleeful rustling of tissue paper. She retrieved the party in question, who glared resentfully until gifted with the sheet of tissue paper she had gone in after.

Willow pounced on the cat, lifting her to eye level for interrogation. “What is it? What did you see?”

Miss Kitty was not forthcoming with information. Tara rustled the sheet of tissue paper enticingly with her foot, and the cat squirmed out of Willow’s grasp to disappear under the bed with her toy. Willow glared at Tara. “Cheater! I had the spy in my clutches. Any minute she was going to crack, I know it! As of right now, all deals are off! I WILL find out what’s in that bag!”

  


* * *

  
The rest of the afternoon consisted of one long game of “Capture the Bag” as Willow implemented plan after plan, growing more and more frustrated as Tara foiled each and every one. Despite her determination to triumph, Willow was about ready to concede defeat when Tara announced it was time to change for the Bronze.

Willow had decided to wear her party clothes over to Tara’s, so only Tara had to change, and Will was anxiously looking forward to it. She stood up from her seat by the door (so as to have a better view) as Tara pulled the mystery bag out of its hiding place behind the bookshelves. She tossed it on the bed before sauntering lazily up to Willow for a kiss.

Willow wasn’t at all clear on the details of what happened next. One minute, she was absorbed in kissing Tara, the next; she was out in the hall with Tara apologetically shutting the door behind her.

* * *

  
Tara’s smile at the memory faded as her girlfriend’s voice grew nearly frantic outside the door. She silently promised she’d make up for all this later, but it had been so much fun tormenting poor Will. It was time to go, though, and Willow sounded about at the end of her rope. Time to open the door and give Will her promised smoochies.

 

* * *

Xander glanced at his watch and sat up quickly, dislodging the arm of his snuggling girlfriend.

“An, it’s getting late, we’ve got to get dressed!” He threw off the covers and began searching for clothes. Anya stayed in bed and pouted. She had been comfortable.

“Why do I have to put clothes on? You’re only going to end up taking them off again in a couple of hours. We could make it easy for ourselves and just never get dressed. We could stay in bed and be naked. Together. With sex.”

Xander’s head was having trouble finding it’s way out of his shirt, muffling his voice. “Anya, we had a date, remember? That’s what couples do. They go on dates. Leaving the bedroom is required in order for this concept to work properly.”

Anya helped him get his head free of the fabric, then purposefully began to remove it again. “We can leave the bedroom tomorrow. Tonight I want to stay naked. And it’s no fun to be naked when you have clothes on. You’re not good at that kind of sex.”

Xander pulled his shirt back down, lifting Anya’s hands off and holding her wrists as she pouted up at him. “We made plans to go to the Bronze tonight. With Buffy and Riley and Willow and Tara. I’m driving. Therefore, I am required to show up. If you want, you can stay here and watch a movie, and I’ll go to the Bronze alone. And if, by some wild chance, some sexy older women ask me to go home with them and be their loveslave, far be it from me to…”

“Give me fifteen minutes.”  


* * *

Willow was nearing the point of tears. “…and how could I endure the thought of you all gorgeous and sexy changing clothes and not want to see, and it was mean to make me leave in the first place, and I’m only human!”

The door swung slowly open again. Tara looked unimpressed. Willow whimpered. “Kiss now? Please?”

Tara drew toward her but stopped, noticing their audience over her girlfriend’s shoulder. Without warning, Willow was tugged inside, and Tara slammed the door behind her. Reduced to allowing sound to fuel their imaginations, the boys listened intently. Several thumps, moans, and minutes later, the pair reemerged, Willow leaning back against her lover and smiling sappily up at her.

Tara grinned mischievously back. “Feeling better now?”

Willow slurred happily. “Mmm, mush beher.”

Tara chuckled throatily, leaning Willow against the doorframe and turning to make sure the door had locked. Turning back, she gave Willow a mock-serious face and shook her finger at her. “Now let that be a lesson to you, Willow Rosenberg, not to go peeping under doors!”


End file.
